Understanding Movement Preparation Chapter 2

Perception: the process by which meaning is attached to information (interpretation) Theory 1: Indirect Perception (cognitive psychology) –Symbolic representation –Series of mental processes –Comparison with existing memory stores –Associated with information processing model.

Information Processing Model Input – Perception - Decision Making – Execution - Output - Feedback

Perception Cont. Theory 2: Direct Perception (Burton 1987) Affordances: environment is perceived in terms of the actions the perceiver can potentially exert on it - same situation can be perceived differently by individuals - no need to refer to existing stores of information (memory) - action is the result of individual capability Perception Action

Status of theories… Regardless of the continued debate that surrounds these two different approaches to explain the internal processes that occur between input and output, research shows that there is a time lag between the presentation of a stimulus and the initiation of a response = reaction time…

Reaction Time (RT) Interval of time between the moment that a stimulus is presented to when a response is initiated. Indicative of the amount of time needed to prepare a response. Influenced by several factors.

Number of Response Choices Simple (starting gun - explode from blocks) vs. choice RT (goal keeper attempting to save a penalty shot) Hick’s Law –Relationship between the number of movement choices and the time needed to prepare a response –The higher the degree of uncertainty in a given situation, the longer the time needed to decide which response to make

Predicted Relationship Between Number of Stimulus-Response Choices and RT

Components of Response Time

Implications for instructors Teach a large number of different strategies/ skills that can be used in various situations When presenting drills, reduce the number of possible responses that are appropriate e.g. volleyball pass: 1) thrown from a partner and passed back to be caught 2) progress to directional changes, and then 3) passing between the partners (progression is VIP)

Anticipation Event anticipation –Predicting what event will happen Temporal anticipation –Predicting when an event will happen Precues (clues regarding an impending action eg. The type of penalty corner a hockey team may take - who traps and who hits) Need to get to know possible actions of opponents and be able to respond to these and other unknown actions

Psychological Refractory Period: Delay in responding to a second stimulus when it occurs in quick succession to an initial stimulus, both requiring different reactions.

Stimulus Response Compatibility The extent to which a stimulus and its required response are naturally related Eg arrangement of stovetop burners and their corresponding controls.

Attention: ability to pay attention to an increasing number of factors in the environment is limited Bottleneck theory - attention filter decides which pieces of information will continue to be processed and which will be discarded Limited attentional capacity - can perform two tasks if TOTAL attention capacity is not reached (reading on a treadmill) Things to consider: –Environmental and task complexity –Skill level –Number of cues (KISS) Selective attention (activity on p. 37)

Attentional Focus: used to selectively attend to specific environmental information

Arousal: physiological and psychological activation that varies from deep sleep to intense excitement

Cue Utilization Hypothesis: changes in attentional focus occur according to arousal levels